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Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Fighting Bike Loss with a Foldable Bike

If you
are feeling inspired by Junonia's new blogger Catherine make sure you
have the right workout attire, whether its for the gym,
biking,
or even just walking
around town.

Fighting Bike Loss with a Foldable Bike

After thirty five bike thefts over the years, I opted to
make an investment in a foldable bike by Dahon. if you leave your bike
unattended for over five hours, it gets stolen, dismantled or tampered with in
some way!! I used to joke that you
had to have a bike to be a delivery person in the city, so I said that I gave
35 people jobs… You gotta keep a
sense of humor. The price was a
bit prohibitive, $650, but when I tally up all the bikes stolen since 1982, I
would have saved about $5,000 if I had done that early on. I fought buying a foldable bike not
only because of the price tag but because I felt like I would look like a
refugee from a circus act riding it.

I researched the various brands and wound up buying a
foldable bike that weighs about 28 pounds. I bought a bike bag to put my bike in as hoisting it up on
your shoulder gives you much more leverage than carrying it satchel style. I have to walk up two flights of stairs
too, so I need the “containment” and the shoulder strap to protect my shins. I get my upper body work that way, too.

I always hear the reprimand, “It’s awfully dangerous with
all the traffic…” Yes, it is but
that’s part of getting up your nerve, acting like you are a moving vehicle and
obeying the laws of the road. I
run the occasional red light, even go the wrong way on a one way street, and
even take my bike on the sidewalk when there is a major traffic jam. I confess to all these infractions. I just don’t do them on a regular
basis. And I have a ‘bossy bell’. So much better than yelling at people!!! I have a bell that sounds like a bell,
too. Something recognizable that
can pierce through earbuds. I have
learned the city back and forth, up and down, east and west, north and south,
too.

Please write to me with your comments and tell me how you
embed exercise into your daily routine of life. I hope you’ll share your stories of biking with me. I’ve inspired so many people to bike
that I’ve probably been instrumental in selling at least a dozen of these Dahon
bikes to curiosity seekers who stop and ask me how I like the foldable
bike.